The ''Adonis'' class was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

class of twelve 10-gun

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

s built under contract in

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during the

Napoleonic War The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. The class was an attempt by the Admiralty to harness the expertise of Bermudian shipbuilders who were renowned for their fast-sailing craft.Winfield (2008), p. 360. The Admiralty ordered twelve vessels on 2 April 1804. Winfield reports, based on Admiralty records, that although all twelve were ordered as cutters, all were completed as (or converted to) schooners. An article in the ''Bermuda Historical Quarterly'' reports that eight were built as cutters (''Alban'', ''Bacchus'', ''Barbara'', ''Casandra'', ''Claudia'', ''Laura'', ''Olympia'', and ''Sylvia''), and three as schooners (''Adonis'', ''Alphea'', and ''Vesta''). The account does not mention ''Zenobia'', but does mention that ''Laura'' and ''Barbara'' (at least) were re-rigged as schooners.''Bermuda Historical Quarterly'', vol. 18 no2, 1961. The discrepancy lies in the poor communications between the Navy Board in Britain and the builders in Bermuda, as well as in deficiencies of record-keeping. Alterations in the masting and rigging of small (unrated) combatants were not infrequent at this time.

Construction

The Navy Board ordered the vessels on 2 April 1804. Goodrich & Co acted as the main contractor to the Navy Board, and contracted out the actual building to different builders in different yards. In many cases the actual builder is unrecorded. All twelve vessels were apparently laid down in 1804 (but documentary evidence is lacking). Each vessel was launched and commissioned during 1806 (precise dates unrecorded). The vessels were all constructed of

Bermuda cedar ''Juniperus bermudiana'' is a species of juniper endemic to Bermuda. This species is most commonly known as Bermuda cedar, but is also referred to as Bermuda juniper (Bermudians refer to it simply as ''cedar''). Historically, this tree formed wo ...

. This durable, native wood, abundant in Bermuda, was strong and light, and did not need seasoning. Shipbuilders used it for framing as well as planking, which reduced vessel weight. It was also highly resistant to rot and marine borers, giving Bermudian vessels a potential lifespan of twenty years and more, even in the worm-infested waters of the Chesapeake and the Caribbean.

Operational lives

Of the twelve vessels in the class, seven were wartime losses. Five survived to be sold between 1814 and 1816.

Ships

Citations

References

* * {{Adonis class schooner + Ship classes of the Royal Navy Schooner classes